


Duty to the Dead

by Zyrieen



Series: Character Study: Jack Harkness [3]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Children of Earth Compliant, Gen, M/M, Moving On, Paperwork, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-07
Updated: 2012-11-07
Packaged: 2017-11-18 04:29:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/556906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zyrieen/pseuds/Zyrieen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the disaster of Thames House, Jack has a duty to the dead to inform their families. One in particular.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Letter

Dear Mr & Mrs Davies,

I regret to have to inform you that your brother, Ianto Jones, died during the recent incident with the alien lifeform known as the '456'. He was present at the confrontation in Thames House, and perished in the retaliation of the '456' which resulted in the deaths of all Thames House's occupants.

Although Ianto was not permitted to talk about his work, I want you to know that he was a highly valued and trusted member of my team, and his loss is a great blow to us all. He has saved us more times than anyone could ever know, and the world will never be the same without him. I know that my life has been the richer for knowing him, and that I will never find another man his equal.

Unfortunately due to the continued sensitive nature of our work, many of his possessions cannot be released. Either myself or my second in command Gwen Cooper will be in touch regarding the handover of what items can be disbursed. In the wake of this incident, I offer you and your family our assistance with anything you might require. Please don't hesitate to call on us. It's the least we can do.

Yours sincerely,  
Capt Jack Harkness  
Torchwood


	2. The Writer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monsters don't cry

Jack stared at the piece of paper on his desk, luxury stationery soaking up the blue ink of his signature. His eyes felt like burned holes in his skull, exhausted from too much to do and not enough people to do it any more. There hadn't been enough people for a while now, not really, it was a tight ship when Tosh and Owen were still alive, and since Gray...

He swallowed, that ancient hurt as fresh as the day he had let go of his brother's hand and let him be taken by Them. (Could it be called ancient when it hadn't happened yet in linear time? By subjective time it was more than a thousand years ago, but it technically wouldn't happen for a little over three thousand years...) He couldn't think of him, not now - there was no time to sort out the Hub with Torchwood overseeing the return of the children, no time to see if anything had survived the explosion. Or the scavenging done after.

Time. He had hoped for more time, even with the job they had. Even with the Doctor and the Daleks and the Weevils and all the other shit they dealt with and defeated and saved the Earth again and again and again... But he'd forgotten, in those final days, that the rules were different for everyone else. He'd forgotten that Ianto was mortal like everyone else, fragile like everyone else; forgotten that Ianto Jones, for all his efficiency and capability was only human. So he'd taken him into the heart of the enemy's camp, spoken proud words in a reckless bluff, and it had taken Ianto Jones away from him - just like that.

His eyes had found the sheet of paper again, rereading that first sentence over and over again. Regret to inform you, Ianto Jones is dead. And with him the last of Captain Jack Harkness's ties to Earth.

Jack's eyes burned in their sockets, but he didn't shed a tear. Captain Jack Harkness wasn't human enough to cry.


End file.
